Monthly Archives: October 2014

November is such a busy month — family get-togethers, holiday shopping and parties, and the year’s most thankful of meals — but everybody can spare just five minutes a day. That’s why November’s WellATL challenge is quick but rewarding: The Wall Sit Challenge. Get your legs and butt in shape with our 30-day challenge and by Thanksgiving, you’ll free up an extra seat at the adult table… because you won’t even need a chair! Do it at your office, at home while you’re watching your fave show, or against a tree at the park. You’ll build strength slowly throughout the month with slowly increasing difficulty until, by day 30, that three-minute wall sit will be a breeze. Tweet us @wellatl or visit us on Facebook to let us know how you’re doing throughout the month. Use #WellSitATL for your chance to win sweet prizes throughout the month.

Because we think you’re swell, we have partnered with Athleta, maker of stylish and functional athletic clothes for women, to offer one lucky WellATL reader a free workout top valued at up to $60. To enter, just fill out this form before Friday, November 7, then cross your fingers. Share the contest with friends for even more chances to win.

The word “tennis” can conjure up images of ladies in starched whites playing doubles at the country club, but The Atlanta Youth Tennis and Education Foundation is out to prove that tennis is for everyone, especially the kids of our city. By partnering with the Boys & Girls Clubs, public schools, and City of Atlanta Parks and Recreation, this nonprofit not only teaches the game but also life skills. WellATL serves up this week’s Friday Five to Cee Jai Jones, Director of Community Outreach and Programs for AYTEF. Tips for your swing, the best courts in the city, and more. >>

Avalon — Alpharetta’s 86-acre answer to Atlantic Station — starts its grand (and excessive?) opening celebration today with chef demos, fashion shows, live music, yoga classes, and several businesses focused on health and wellness. Here are a few of the places where you can eat well, move well, feel well, and look well at the new $600 million mixed-use development… Grand openings >>

It’s finally soup weather here in Atlanta! For this week’s recipe, I started out making a buffalo chicken pasta, and it didn’t really turn out to be very good. (Okay, it was awful.) So, I decided because it is getting chilly out, and I already had a whole chicken, spaghetti squash, and some bone broth made, I would try to turn it into a buffalo soup. Honestly, I thought it was probably going to suck too, but much to my surprise, it did not. Not at all. In fact, the whole family loved it and we ate all of it in one night. Days when you win feel so good! I am Super Mom today and I will enjoy it while it’s here because I know it doesn’t always last long. Happy accidents >>

It’s the spooky season, and there’s nothing scarier than bad form. It can not only reduce the effectiveness of your workout, it can haunt you for weeks or even months afterward in the form of an injury. Boo to that! Here are four of the most terrifyingly common mistakes you might be making when doing popular body-weight exercises — and more importantly, what you need to do to correct them.

So you’ve signed up for a race. Now what? Plans like running “30 easy” or “10 easy, 15 moderate, 15 easy” are not training. Those are exercise. How do you know if your 30-minute, easy run is enough? What does “moderate” actually mean? It’s simply not effective. Instead, aim to be the best runner you can in the time you have. Here’s how:Speed and endurance training >>

We asked you to bring the creativity to win a catered lunch for you and your colleagues from Zifty, and man, did you guys deliver. There were plenty of hilarious and delightful pics of employees doing fun fitness-y things, but we could (sadly) only choose one winner. And that winner is… Drumroll, please >>

Halloween has always been one of my favorite parts of fall, but aside from the short walk around the neighborhood to collect treats, it’s not the healthiest of holidays. Kids’ costumes are awesome (who doesn’t love a 2-year-old Dwight Schrute?), and the first year it clicks that he gets candy in return for a knock on the door, a child’s determination is nothing short of hilarious. But then what? The costumes come off and mountains of Mounds glare at you until Easter. We’re faithful to our clean diet most of the time, but we definitely partake in some Halloween goodies. And as the kids get older, it’s harder to hide or dump the leftover loot so I went in search of ideas to make the extra sweets less of a fright.Here comes the Switch Witch! >>

Atlanta is chock full o’ amazing health and wellness events. Every Monday, WellATL will bring you a handy-dandy list of the week’s finest options. If you’d like to submit something fun and fitness-y for consideration, shoot an email to events@wellatl.com. And now, behold, seven days of awesome…